Hu Yuan is not only a famous educator in ancient China, but also an outstanding thinker. His unique educational theory and rich social practice all stem from his profound attainments in academic thought. His academic thoughts are rich in connotation, mainly rooted in Zhouyi.

Yi-ology is a knowledge that pays attention to the way of heaven and man and the changing law of everything. Hu Yuan's Zhouyi Kouji was kept by his student Ni according to his dictation. It is characterized by a bold suspicion of classics and a new interpretation of self-reliance. According to statistics, there are more than 10 in Hu Yuan's Book of Changes. In Hong Fan Kouyi, many unreasonable annotations have also been corrected. According to the example of Song and Yuan Dynasties, Hu Yuan "speaks Yi in Risheng Hall, with a high voice and rhyme, a clear will and everyone is convinced". Ding quoted the words of Hu Yuan's students in the Record of Words and deeds: Hu Yuan spoke directly for the nation. "The court ordered imperial academy to teach the Book of Changes every day, and the teacher made it clear every time he quoted contemporary events." Undoubtedly, Hu Yuan was the authority of Yi-ology in the early Song Dynasty, the pioneer and the founder of Yi-ology in the Song Dynasty. A Qing scholars all trace back to the source in the Song and Yuan Cases: "The art of prosperity is to stabilize Mount Tai first." 2. Adhere to the people-oriented thinking to comfort the people. Hu Yuan's way of comforting the people is to seek and use talents, educate and teach the people. He believes that no matter how capable and wise a king is, he will "advocate ignorance and make it impossible" without the assistance of a wise minister. Although he has the desire to be benevolent and love the people, he can't be benevolent in the world. Therefore, Hu Yuan said: "The world is big and there are many living beings. A sage can't rule alone, and all the sages must go hand in hand with the court to win the hearts of the people. " Recruiting the world's sages can help you implement benevolent policies, help you broaden your audience, and let you do nothing. Of course, the "people" mentioned here are only the left and right ministers of the ruling class. However, he advocated running official schools in prefectures and counties, starting with educating and cultivating local grassroots people, and striving to improve their quality. In particular, Hu Yuan said in "On People-oriented" in Zhouyi Kouyi: "Don't worry about yourself, those who worry are the world, and those who are happy are the world." This is actually consistent with Fan Zhongyan's thought of "worrying about the world first, and enjoying the world later".

Advocate the unity of knowing and doing

Hu Yuan also advocated the combination of theory and practice. When he was teaching "Three Rites" (Zhou Li, Yi Li, Li Ji), because the ritual items recorded in it had long been lost and there were no intuitive teaching tools for students to observe, he made a wall chart and hung it in the lecture hall to make students intuitive and enhance their memory and understanding. In addition, students are also organized to go out of the classroom, travel far and near, visit famous mountains and rivers, broaden their horizons and realize the unity of book knowledge and social practice.